Palestinians form new 'unity' government including Hamas

1of 2Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new government and said it will follow his political program backing a negotiated, two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Photo: Abbas Momani / Getty Images

2of 2Palestinians celebrated the reconciliation between the rival factions Fatah and Hamas during a rally in Gaza City last month.Photo: Associated Press file photo

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Declaring that a “black page in history has been turned forever,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new government Monday intended to reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip after seven years of political and social division.

“Today, we restore our national unity, restore the unity of institutions,” Abbas said in a speech broadcast live after the new ministers took their oaths at his headquarters here. “We are all loyal to Palestine. We want to keep its banner hoisted high.”

The new government grew out of an April pact between the Palestine Liberation Organization — dominated by Abbas' secular nationalist Fatah faction — and the militant Islamic Hamas movement that has ruled Gaza since 2007.

The new government's first moments were marred by threats from Hamas leaders Monday that they wouldn't support it over a disagreement on how to represent Palestinians in Israeli prisons, although they ultimately agreed to back the government.

The dispute displayed the delicate task Abbas has in balancing Palestinian politics and international diplomacy as he tries to maintain financial support for the government despite Hamas being deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Europe and many others in the West.

The Palestinians also are bracing for punitive sanctions by Israel, which announced Monday that it would hold the new government responsible for any attacks from the West Bank or Gaza.

Israel also said it would act “in the international arena against the participation of terrorist organizations in elections.”

“Today, Abu Mazen said yes to terrorism and no to peace,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, using Abbas' nickname.

“Abu Mazen has forged a pact with Hamas,” he added. “The state of Israel will not conduct diplomatic negotiations with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel.”

The new government is made up largely of lawyers, businessmen and academics who aren't formally tied to Fatah or Hamas.

They're charged with preparing for overdue elections in six months and integrating West Bank and Gaza institutions that have been operating independently during the seven-year schism.

It's led by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, a linguist and former university president who has held the top post in the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority government for the past year.

Of the 16 ministers under him, three are women; four are Gaza residents, who were barred by Israel from attending Monday's swearing-in; and about half served in the previous government, including the two deputy prime ministers.

The State Department has said that the United States, which is scheduled to provide $440 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority this year, will monitor the situation closely and judge any government based on its actions.